February 4 Monday
Today will be a slower day as most of the activities (with the exception of our canceled day trip to Luxembourg) that we had planned have been completed. Almost all museums are closed on Mondays, but the Grand Palais, which had an exhibition on the artist Miro (final day today as a matter of fact) was open. We walked to the Les Halles modern shopping center to find a quick sandwich place and inside there was a place called "Paul." We each had a ham and cheese baguette with butter — okay, but we were told “there are better sandwiches in Paris.” We exited the mall and admired the St. Eustache church (we later learned it has the largest organ in France). Then we continued on to the Rue de Rivoli, admiring a building called Samaritan’s, partially under scaffolding with nice mosaic tiles.
We entered the great courtyard of the Louvre, which was quite busy, as it is one of the few places open on Monday (it closes on Tuesday). Today was overcast and very cool, but not breezy, so tolerable. We walked throught the Tuileries Gardens, seeing a partially frozen fountain/pond with seagulls standing on the ice. Then we crossed the Place de la Concorde — always tricky — and made our way to the Grand Palais. We took some photos of the front, then attempted to take some photos of the Petit Palais, but some guy in a red jacket would NOT leave the front steps. He spent close to one half hour posing for pictures — ugh! It turned out the main section of the Grand Palais was closed, and the entrance to the Miro exhibit was on the side the building. We worked our way to the side and discovered a very long line, which was moving very slowly, if at all. We decided not to wait it out and left. We decided to return to the Louvre, which we entered for free with our museum passes.
Today we entered the Richelieu wing, which has an amazing sculpture garden on the main floor. It is beautiful and seemingly brand new. Then we went up to the second level which has Northern European and French paintings. We came across a super large room featuring a large number of huge canvases. It turns out they were painted by Rubens to recreate the important events in the life of Henri IV. They were commissioned by his wife Marie d’ Medici for their Luxembourg Palace. They are very impressive. We then strolled through the galleries, admiring Rembrandts, Van Dycks, more Rubens, and others. It was very nice and not crowded. After this we walked through the apartments of Napolean III, who lived here in the Louvre palace apparently. From here we made our way back downstairs and exited. This was a nice visit.
We considered other activities such as climbing the tower of Notre Dame, but Roy decided he didn’t want to climb. He proposed just wandering around the Ile-de-la-Cite. Then we stumbled upon a real gem: the Conciergerie. As we were walking on the street that has the entrance to the Saint-Chappelle, Roy saw through a window a dimly lit basement with a vaulted ceiling. What was this? Then we saw a sign for the Conciergerie. Could we get in here with our museum pass? Yes! This was the royal residence from the sixth century forward as established by Clovis, the king of the Franks. In the 13th century, Saint Louis made improvements (including Saint-Chappelle) and then Philip IV modernized the palace. Then, when it was abandoned as a royal residence in the late 14th century, it became a judicial center with a “concierge.” The place is now most famous for being a prison during the French Revolution. We saw the main room (which we had seen through the window from the street), which was a room for soldiers. Then there are a number of smaller rooms that have revolutionary significance, most notably the room which had been Marie Antionette’s cell at the end of her life. It was from here that she was taken to be guillotined. This is now part of a chapel. This was kind of a fun and unexpected diversion.
As we left, the weather had turned yet again to cold and drizzly. It was late in the afternoon so we returned to our apartment after a quick visit to the grocery store.
Dinner tonight will be something different: Italian! We found a well reviewed restaurant near the Place des Vosges called Salento Marais. The host/waiter is a friendly young man who speaks perfect English and yet appreciated my attempt to speak French — he even complimented me! We shared starters: marinated eggplant with fresh mozzarella and a small rocket salad with tomatoes and a mixture of grilled vegetables — very good! For mains, we each had tagliatelle bolognese, which was also very well prepared! The pasta was cooked perfectly. Then we returned to our apartment for an early night.
TTTTooooooddddaayy
We entered the great courtyard of the Louvre, which was quite busy, as it is one of the few places open on Monday (it closes on Tuesday). Today was overcast and very cool, but not breezy, so tolerable. We walked throught the Tuileries Gardens, seeing a partially frozen fountain/pond with seagulls standing on the ice. Then we crossed the Place de la Concorde — always tricky — and made our way to the Grand Palais. We took some photos of the front, then attempted to take some photos of the Petit Palais, but some guy in a red jacket would NOT leave the front steps. He spent close to one half hour posing for pictures — ugh! It turned out the main section of the Grand Palais was closed, and the entrance to the Miro exhibit was on the side the building. We worked our way to the side and discovered a very long line, which was moving very slowly, if at all. We decided not to wait it out and left. We decided to return to the Louvre, which we entered for free with our museum passes.
Today we entered the Richelieu wing, which has an amazing sculpture garden on the main floor. It is beautiful and seemingly brand new. Then we went up to the second level which has Northern European and French paintings. We came across a super large room featuring a large number of huge canvases. It turns out they were painted by Rubens to recreate the important events in the life of Henri IV. They were commissioned by his wife Marie d’ Medici for their Luxembourg Palace. They are very impressive. We then strolled through the galleries, admiring Rembrandts, Van Dycks, more Rubens, and others. It was very nice and not crowded. After this we walked through the apartments of Napolean III, who lived here in the Louvre palace apparently. From here we made our way back downstairs and exited. This was a nice visit.
We considered other activities such as climbing the tower of Notre Dame, but Roy decided he didn’t want to climb. He proposed just wandering around the Ile-de-la-Cite. Then we stumbled upon a real gem: the Conciergerie. As we were walking on the street that has the entrance to the Saint-Chappelle, Roy saw through a window a dimly lit basement with a vaulted ceiling. What was this? Then we saw a sign for the Conciergerie. Could we get in here with our museum pass? Yes! This was the royal residence from the sixth century forward as established by Clovis, the king of the Franks. In the 13th century, Saint Louis made improvements (including Saint-Chappelle) and then Philip IV modernized the palace. Then, when it was abandoned as a royal residence in the late 14th century, it became a judicial center with a “concierge.” The place is now most famous for being a prison during the French Revolution. We saw the main room (which we had seen through the window from the street), which was a room for soldiers. Then there are a number of smaller rooms that have revolutionary significance, most notably the room which had been Marie Antionette’s cell at the end of her life. It was from here that she was taken to be guillotined. This is now part of a chapel. This was kind of a fun and unexpected diversion.
As we left, the weather had turned yet again to cold and drizzly. It was late in the afternoon so we returned to our apartment after a quick visit to the grocery store.
Dinner tonight will be something different: Italian! We found a well reviewed restaurant near the Place des Vosges called Salento Marais. The host/waiter is a friendly young man who speaks perfect English and yet appreciated my attempt to speak French — he even complimented me! We shared starters: marinated eggplant with fresh mozzarella and a small rocket salad with tomatoes and a mixture of grilled vegetables — very good! For mains, we each had tagliatelle bolognese, which was also very well prepared! The pasta was cooked perfectly. Then we returned to our apartment for an early night.
TTTTooooooddddaayy
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